Damn, not sure what's worse falling off or the sympathy
Discussion
So had my first major fall, today. Taking a bend at 20mph without giving a second thought for the damp road.
Creamed in and had an old dear in her disco jump out and say "oh my dear, did I hit you". Then a 2nd woman stopped to ask if I needed anything. I explained it was me and a greasy surface, I was fine, my bike was fine; but that wasn't enough.
They got talking about my ripped lycra, bleeding patches of skin, how to transport my bike, staunch my wounds and generally were very very nice. It made me feel like a 10 yo boy and I just wanted to straighten my bars and cycle off to share my shame with the road.
Eventually got home and the missus was sympathetic for 10 sec, made all the oohs and arghs a loving partner should then came out with it...... "any excuse to buy some new kit". I knew I married the right woman.
Creamed in and had an old dear in her disco jump out and say "oh my dear, did I hit you". Then a 2nd woman stopped to ask if I needed anything. I explained it was me and a greasy surface, I was fine, my bike was fine; but that wasn't enough.
They got talking about my ripped lycra, bleeding patches of skin, how to transport my bike, staunch my wounds and generally were very very nice. It made me feel like a 10 yo boy and I just wanted to straighten my bars and cycle off to share my shame with the road.
Eventually got home and the missus was sympathetic for 10 sec, made all the oohs and arghs a loving partner should then came out with it...... "any excuse to buy some new kit". I knew I married the right woman.
Hope you are feeling better now, and perfect timing for the black Friday sales ;D
I once hit the ground, hard, because some idiot had put a chain across my normal route in Hyde park. Spotted 5m before on gravelly surface, so disaster unsurprisingly occurred.
Had to jump back on asap to escape all the very kind and concerned passers by. Stereotypical englishness just does not let me accept sympathy from strangers.
Only a few minutes later started to feel how shook/concussed I was, getting to the office then noticed the bloody mess my face had become, and realised why so much concern!
I once hit the ground, hard, because some idiot had put a chain across my normal route in Hyde park. Spotted 5m before on gravelly surface, so disaster unsurprisingly occurred.
Had to jump back on asap to escape all the very kind and concerned passers by. Stereotypical englishness just does not let me accept sympathy from strangers.
Only a few minutes later started to feel how shook/concussed I was, getting to the office then noticed the bloody mess my face had become, and realised why so much concern!
TheDrownedApe said:
the missus was sympathetic for 10 sec, made all the oohs and arghs a loving partner should then came out with it...... "any excuse to buy some new kit". I knew I married the right woman.
I used to get "did you win" (back when i raced Enduro's) No (of course) "Well did you crash then?" No, mainly was the answer..... never got to tell her about my exploits or gnarly track because if i hadn't crashed or won, then not interested. Dnlm said:
Hope you are feeling better now, and perfect timing for the black Friday sales ;D
I once hit the ground, hard, because some idiot had put a chain across my normal route in Hyde park. Spotted 5m before on gravelly surface, so disaster unsurprisingly occurred.
Had to jump back on asap to escape all the very kind and concerned passers by. Stereotypical englishness just does not let me accept sympathy from strangers.
Only a few minutes later started to feel how shook/concussed I was, getting to the office then noticed the bloody mess my face had become, and realised why so much concern!
Had similar a few years ago. Was riding to work and caught my pedal on a railing, spun round and fell, clonking my head on the rail. I once hit the ground, hard, because some idiot had put a chain across my normal route in Hyde park. Spotted 5m before on gravelly surface, so disaster unsurprisingly occurred.
Had to jump back on asap to escape all the very kind and concerned passers by. Stereotypical englishness just does not let me accept sympathy from strangers.
Only a few minutes later started to feel how shook/concussed I was, getting to the office then noticed the bloody mess my face had become, and realised why so much concern!
Got up and a family walking nearby came over to see if i was OK. The woman seemed to be making a bit of a fuss and the kids were a bit quiet. I was trying to reassure them all i was fine and not to worry, but she was insistent - did i want an ambulance, did i feel ok, etc. I brushed it all off as over-reaction.
I was only when someone came over from a house over the road with a towel to "mop up the blood" that i realised i had managed to get quite a gash and that blood was pouring down my face in quite alarming quantities. Not surprised the kids looked worried as i looked like an extra from a zombie film.
Ended up in casualty to get stictches.
Our brains are very good at instantly masking the pain from injury and allowing us to get up and away from the danger which caused us to sustain the injury in the first place. We are still primitive mammals. This is your survival instinct as much as embarrassment, and why stuff doesn't tend to start hurting until we have reached 'safety'.
LimaDelta said:
Our brains are very good at instantly masking the pain from injury and allowing us to get up and away from the danger which caused us to sustain the injury in the first place. We are still primitive mammals. This is your survival instinct as much as embarrassment, and why stuff doesn't tend to start hurting until we have reached 'safety'.
I had an accident on a motorbike on the Mulsanne straight at Le Mans, and rode four miles back to the motorhome. I got within 50 yards of it and had to stop, just couldn't go any further. I'd broken a big chip off the top of my humerus.Yeah the pain was only bad when i got in the shower after cycling the 6 ish miles home.
Now a week later and the bruising is covering half way up/down from my elbow and from my knee to ass. Tried sticking my lycra on and getting back out but it's too painful so sat on the rower instead. It seems ive been neglecting my upper body as im damn slow atm. lol
Now a week later and the bruising is covering half way up/down from my elbow and from my knee to ass. Tried sticking my lycra on and getting back out but it's too painful so sat on the rower instead. It seems ive been neglecting my upper body as im damn slow atm. lol
My best one was riding home from Cheltenham through Stroud and not noticing a dip across the road where a trench had been filled and then sunk. Hands slipped forwards off brake hoods, I went over handlebars, landing square on top of my head, and bike went over me. I then slid under the back of a parked car and was wedged against the silencer.
A very helpful man appeared from nowhere to help me out from under the car and lead me into his business premises and sat me down.to recover. I was examining my crash helmet which was broken into 3 sections when I noticed coffins and wreaths around me ...... I was in the back room of an undertakers
The next morning I was bruised and had a cracked rib from sliding under the car. One of my work colleagues sent an email round the office "Kev fell off his bike in Stroud last night and was taken to the undertakers........" which caused a few concerns
A very helpful man appeared from nowhere to help me out from under the car and lead me into his business premises and sat me down.to recover. I was examining my crash helmet which was broken into 3 sections when I noticed coffins and wreaths around me ...... I was in the back room of an undertakers
The next morning I was bruised and had a cracked rib from sliding under the car. One of my work colleagues sent an email round the office "Kev fell off his bike in Stroud last night and was taken to the undertakers........" which caused a few concerns
Set off for a 50km ride last night. 5km into the ride, 2 oryx came bounding across the cycle track, of which I hit the second one. Luckily no damage to the bike or riding gear. I just have a sore hip from the crash (x ray showed no broken bones).
No sympathy from the wife who said "you should take more care and perhaps ride in the morning". Thanks love.
No sympathy from the wife who said "you should take more care and perhaps ride in the morning". Thanks love.
TheDrownedApe said:
So had my first major fall, today. Taking a bend at 20mph without giving a second thought for the damp road.
Having done this last year last week the pedal bike hasn't been touched. Saw one nutter cycling on the pavement next to a national speed limit road when it was -4 and snow on the ground on Monday.People say road cycling isn't dangerous enough compared to MTB, but falling off and potentially ending up under a car is pretty bad........and as you mentioned not forgetting the public humiliation of a grown man falling off a bike whilst wearing lycra
.Edited by gangzoom on Thursday 2nd December 06:55
LimaDelta said:
Our brains are very good at instantly masking the pain from injury and allowing us to get up and away from the danger which caused us to sustain the injury in the first place. We are still primitive mammals. This is your survival instinct as much as embarrassment, and why stuff doesn't tend to start hurting until we have reached 'safety'.
Yup. I was rushing back to my car at the end of a ride a year or so ago. Too fast for a narrow road with gravel and grass growing up the middle, admittedly, but trying to avoid being late home (again!) I hit a Fox that ran out of a hedgerow on my right, which took my front wheel across the road with it, dumping me hard onto the road and I slid along on my right shoulder/hip/elbow still clipped into the pedals (which saved damage to the bike other than the saddle and bar tape). Must have been some crash, or maybe I (or the Fox?) made an almighty racket, but the occupants of a nearby house came out in their dressing gowns to see what had gone on. I managed to pick myself up, straighten the bars, and persuade these nice folks that I was OK. I rode on, got the bike in the car, and drove home (getting blood on the piping of the leather seat too).
My wife (a nurse) got me in the bath and temporarily patched me up enough to go to bed, but in the morning she decided I needed to go to A and E because "that's too much for the first aid kit we have here". So I went from being "well 'ard" and dragging myself home without assistance to getting a flap of skin stitched down on my elbow and grit picked out of my arm and shoulder.
Sympathy at home was in short supply. I had form for this, I've been blue-lighted to hospital twice and ended up with my (on duty) wife at my bedside, and taken myself in for stitching up twice too (not all cycling related, I hasten to add).
The last time I came off was coming down off the South Downs Way down a Bridleway which was too steep for cycling on. I left it too late to stop, came to a halt under the bare minimum of control but the rear wheel lifted and I toppled off into a huge bramble bush (a better choice than falling to my left straight down a steep wooded hillside). After a little difficulty extricating myself I again road on to a nearby village shop with outdoor seating where people kept staring at me and eventually one young mum came up and asked if I needed her to call someone for me. Turns out both arms and both legs were badly scratched by the bramble thorns and I was leaking everywhere, with blood running into my socks and from my arms. I thanked her for her concern, and finished eating my pasty and ice cream, before sitting on the grass outside picking thorns out of my limbs before using alcohol hand gel to try to clean things up a bit (very uncomfortable, that part...) A lesson in stopping before things get out of hand, and in choosing a more appropriate bike for the off road stuff.
As always, though, a little blood seems to go a long way, and it looks worse than it really is. Some of my kit now has blood stains to go with the oil stains, and I've had to patch and/or stitch jerseys and shorts, but apart from the air ambulance incident (I was hit by a van and then they cut off my clothes on the road while I begged the police to secure my bike) everything has survived and is still "in service".
It's good to have a wife who is a nurse though. Especially one with access to the keys for the Central Treatment Room. It means for minor stuff you can avoid a wait in A and E and jump the queue for treatment...
Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff